There are different degrees of fandom and geekery. You might think that, considering I run a film blog, contribute to various others, host a movie podcast and spend a large portion of my daily life watching, discussing and generally thinking about movies that I’d consider myself a high level movie nerd. Well I don’t. I’m way more of a fan than the average man on the street, and amongst my friends I’m the “movie guy,” but compared to a lot of other people I’m barely scratching the surface. You want proof? Well, this past weekend saw the Bournemouth Film and Comic Con take place about four miles from my house, and I didn’t even go. It’s not like I’ve been to so many cons that I’m sick of them – I’ve never been to any – I just didn’t go. It was partially for financial reasons – August was a particularly expensive month, and September and October probably will be too – and also for time constraints, with various other things I’d planned to do this weekend, but there’s also the fact that there was very little advertised about the con that I wanted to partake in. I’ve no interest in collecting autographs or having my picture taken with figures from the world of TV and the movies. Yes I think Michael Biehn is great, but I don’t see how meeting him would improve my life, and I’d have nothing to say to him other than “Man, Jai Courtney shat all over Kyle Reese, right?” The same goes with Robert Englund, or Sylvester McCoy, both of whom were also present, along with Lou Ferrigno, Chris Barrie, David Prowse and the guy who plays Hodor on Game of Thrones. I respect all of their work, but I don’t understand what people get from having their signature on a DVD slip cover. No offence to anyone who is interested in this kind of thing, it’s just not for me.

Speaking of this past weekend, I feel there’s proof that I may be maturing as a person. This weekend was a Bank Holiday weekend which, for people who don’t know, means everyone who doesn’t work in a shop or for the emergency services etc. got an extra day off. It happens a few times a year, and this was the last one before Christmas. I’ve got a few days off in October for the UK LAMB Meet-Up in London, but other than that I’ll be working solidly through to Christmas Eve for the rest of the year. In the past, my three-day weekends would have been filled with movies, TV shows and video games. This time last year I watched 9 films, in spite of having guests staying over. In 2012 I watched 11 films over the course of the three days. And what about this weekend? Surely I made good use of the time catching up and even getting ahead of some of my targets. I at least must have written some of my outstanding reviews. Nope. I watched a grand total of four movies. And I reviewed nothing. Not a damn thing. Granted, all four movies I watched were relevant to some goal or other, and I partook in two podcasts, one of which took almost three hours to record (but was well worth the effort, thanks French Toast Sunday!). I also did some gardening – I’m adding a stone border around the front lawn for easier lawn-mowing, and to match the one we put in the read garden recently – and some DIY, taking apart a vintage wooden bar, re-painting it and re-assembling. We also made a cake we were commissioned for, decorating it to look basketball-themed (we’re happy with it, but the finished product isn’t worthy of a photo on here), took Murphy out for some walks, has a nice pub lunch, I started Aisha’s birthday shopping, and generally just had a nice weekend, not cluttered with the stress of staying on top of my lists. I know I’ve got a weekend or two in my future where I’ll be left alone with the puppy, at which point I’ll get a bit more done, but for now I’m more than OK with the progress I’m making. Or not, as the case may be. Here’s the four movies I watched this week: Continue reading →